A New Experience

Steve and I are from towns of 10,000 and 4,000+ respectively, so high school football is something we know well and spent almost every Friday night growing up watching (or playing in his case - have you seen him?).

Steve and I spent last Friday night at a nearby high school football game. But it was nothing like we've experienced before.

First, the teams were ranked #1 and #2 in the state.
Steve reminded me about a game of his when his team was on the bus going home by half time.

Second, people were tailgating in nearby office parks and parked in parking garages.
Besides the fact none of the above exist in our home towns; let alone by our high schools, nobody would dare tailgate (with alcohol) of legal age or not within eyesight of school grounds!

Third, it was like we were at a smallish college game. There were around 7,000 fans at the game!
That means every single person in my home town plus probably every person who rurally lives in the entire county would be attending.

Fourth, they served both Cul*ver's hamburgers and Sheri*dan's custard.
I opted for the Pep Club's hot dog.

Fifth, a sports station was airing the game live.
And, it wasn't the high school station.

It was a fun night, a different experience and we'll definitely be going to other games. But we still vote for the small town football games. Plus, after there game, I know for a fact there's no loop for them to scoop.

A Great Man

Last week, Steve lost a good friend. Roy passed away at his home in Iowa after an extremely "courageous" 11-month battle with cancer. Thankfully, Steve was able to spend a few-hours with him on the Sunday afternoon before he passed away. Roy passed away in the early hours of that Tuesday a.m. surrounded by his family and friends.

They became friends when they joined the same fraternity. After they moved out of the house, the two of them and a couple other friends lived together - in a strip of old "aka run down" apartments with basements in the middle of the Greek area that seemed to always have a keg going. Or at least that's my recollection... Needless to say, they've had a lot of great times together.

The unbelievable number of people who paid their respect to Roy and his family during the visitation and vigil service on Thursday night and for his funeral, the procession from the town the funeral was held to his current town, to his home town 1-1/2 hour away (in torrential rain), for his burial, and then for the celebration of his life at a local hall (with a lot of Busch lite drank in his honor -- which also happens to be Steve's favorite beverage) says it all.

Roy made the choice to do one of the bravest and giving things...he was a volunteer firefighter. On both Thursday night and Friday, a great number of fire trucks from around Iowa were there and then followed the procession the entire 1-1/2 hours to his burial. The bag pipes, the tributes, the bells, the firefighter salute, the large flag held up by two neighboring city's fire truck ladders at his home fire station as they transported him from the antique fire truck to the vehicle that took his family and him to his final resting place, the fire trucks with their lights on on the overpasses as we drove through Des Moines, the Rest in Peace message on his home town Pizza Hut's sign, the fireman outfit in front of the Casey's, the large amount of people in the streets paying their respect (as I mentioned in pouring rain) in both his town and his hometown are just a few examples of the profound effect he had on so many people and the respect he had in the communities he lived in.

I write this post not only as a memorial to Steve's long-time friend and his family but also so there will be more people to pray for Rebecca and their two sweet, adorable and young (6 & 2) daughters. And, of course also for his parents, siblings and families.

I did not know him well, but I'm so glad Steve did.

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/roybingham

You Say It's Your Birthday....

We started dating when we were 27, & now he's (not me - quite yet)  37!

Happy, Happy birthday to my beyond-wonderful husband!

He just returned from a much deserved guys fishing trip in Wisconsin last night -- after 12.5 hours in the car -- so this 37-year old is exhausted!

It's nice how his shirt perfectly complements the wall & flower picture.

A Celebration of 95 Years

A couple of weekends ago we got to spend three-days in northwest (Storm Lake) and northern (Algona) Iowa.

On that Sunday we got to celebrate Steve's grandpa's 95th birthday! Steve's mom, Barb, and sister, Julie, organized an extremely nice open house for Grandpa Bartlett.

Steve's grandpa has had a very rewarding life and has given much back to his community and church.

Here's our awesome family...anyone that's been around them all together know there's no other family like the Seilers. They are hilarious with each other, and we have a good time together...

Josh, Jamie and I are very lucky to have become a part of this family.

I think this was the 10th picture taken so the kids were getting a little restless.
Front Row: Grandpa Bartlett, Luke, Ty
Second Row: Josh, Julie, Barb, Jamie, Cael, Beth, Andy
Back Row: Jerry, Steve


Uncle Steve and Luke on the pogo stick.

Ty was eating ice cream at the open house ever chance he got. He sat down by multiple people he didn't know and would just make himself at home. Doesn't he have the best smile?

Cael is funny and on-the-move. As much as they try to change it, he will only call his grandma, "Barb". "Hi Barb!" "What are you doing, Barb?" So funny...

Raleigh

For the long fourth of July weekend, Steve and I made our annual jaunt to Raleigh to visit Jacque & Jason. Here we are on Friday night getting ready to consume an oyster shooter. I was not aware of what I was about to partake in. Since I dispise both tomato juice and oysters it wasn't a win-win for me. But the others seemed to enjoy it quite a bit. We had an awesome night.

But then the next morning I woke up with the flu. Talk about good times...or not.

Regardless, it was was wonderful to see everyone.

May The Force Be With You

The last week of June we had two family birthdays. First was Julie's birthday, and the next day was Nate's!

Here are some photos from Nate's (amazing) Jedi 5th birthday.

Ditchin' the Last Name

I have not been much of a blogger lately. I need to get back into the blogging groove.

But we have really fabulous news...Steve's sister and my sister-in-law, Julie, is engaged to Josh!

It happened a couple of weekends ago - and Josh did a great job. As Josh was getting ready to propose, (which Jules obviously didn't know) she started singing, "You're The Inspiration" to him.

Only Julie (and that funny Seiler sense of humor)!

We are thrilled for them, and look forward to it all!

Hiring Out

A couple of Sundays ago, we woke up and decided to become landscape architects. After multiple trips to three retailers and way too many holes dug (Steve assured me I would not break the shovel even though I know I was close...), 31 bushes are now apart of our yard!

Charlotte Street Outing

Each year on Easter Eve, my brother and sister-in-law along with their neighbors have a Charlotte St. Easter Egg Hunt.

It's hilarious to watch them search through multiple yards searching for eggs.


The Charlotte Street clan. The big kids are always so helpful with helping the little kids find eggs.


Evan the Easter Bunny (missing a sock).



Nate and Evan enjoying the fruits of their labor.

36!

On March 16, my brother and I turned 36.

Enough said!

Big 12's

The Big 12's were back in KC last weekend. Of course, ISU was out of the tournament Wednesday night, but that didn't stop the fun...


Lindsey and Joe at the Embassy Suites happy hour.


Jeff and JR.


Clint and me.


Steve doing his "get me out the picture" dance.


At a very crowded "P&L" (with our flipping off friend).


Lindsey, Steve and JR at the PBR bar.

Me staying on the PBR bull for what I thought seemed like a pretty impressive time (even though it was probably only seconds).

Happy 1st Birthday Baby Evan!

We love you so much!

Chow

Last week in KC was Restaurant Week. Around 100 restaurants participated by serving prix fixe menus. And we took full advantage. We ate. A lot.

On Friday night we went down the street to Aixois which is a local french restaurant.

On Saturday night we visited a restaurant from our home state that is located on the edge of the good ole' P&L District. We feasted at 801 Steak & Chophouse.

To say we were fuller than full was an understatement. But we weren't too full to stop for pizza on Sunday at another Iowa based venue; The Other Place. OP pizza is just to hard to pass up.

The Penthouse

On Saturday night we were included in the wedding and the celebration of a former co-worker of mine (of course, they are both from Iowa -- as we all are in KC).

Their reception was in the space that Steve and I got married in and had our reception in a little over three years ago. It was a bit surreal to be there again but fun to be there again.

Thanks to fun friends, an open bar and a dance floor (that Steve only touched to get to the forementioned bar) a good time was had by all.

Seiler Weekend

After some success with Wii bowling, Steve and I had a real bowling night out Friday night with Steve/Ann/kids and some friends. Steve fared a bit better than I did. I should have been in the next lane with the bumpers.

On Saturday we visited KCK to hit Cabela's and Nebraska Furniture Mart. Both were crazy with people everywhere so no purchases were made. I then wanted to check out Five Guys Burgers so Steve drove around The Legends parking lot looking for a parking space until I got car sick. But it was well worth it because as soon as we walked in I won us large fries!

Saturday night we went to the Andy Warhold exhibit at Union Station. It was a cool exhibit and we each got a free glass of wine after seeing the exhibit.

Free things all around!